


Hide Away

by ThePrimeOne



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mild Sexual Content, Post-Canon, Secret Santa, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21918274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrimeOne/pseuds/ThePrimeOne
Summary: Annette's hidden herself in her room. Of course it's only Felix she opens her door for.For Felannie 2019 Secret Santa
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45
Collections: Felannie Secret Santa Gifts of 2019





	Hide Away

She finally understood, perhaps even still only to a certain extent, what Felix felt that day and the weeks after when his father, Rodrigue passed. She knew what it was like to lose- her father did abandon her and her mother all those years ago after all. She grieved, but still held on, still clung onto the hope that maybe, just maybe she could get him to return home.    
  
And she was so close to making her dream happen. She and her father reconciled with each other, proving his love for her and her mother still existed with the mountainous piles of unsent letters addressed to her and her mother that she received from him. They made up for lost time as best they could amongst the stress of the war effort.   
  
And all of that came crashing down moments after their final victory against Edelgard.   
  
She couldn’t remember much, mostly due to the shock as Manuela explained. But what pieces she could remember shook her to the core and almost pushed her to the verge of tears every time the scene crossed her mind.   
  
She remembered her father lying on the ground, body sprawled on the ground, smoke searing off the skin of his ruined armour and blood spilling out of the wounds of his body. She remembers screaming out for her father, and someone else calling out his name. The rest is hazy before Annette recalled when she snapped, her hammer raised above her head as she repeatedly swung the flat side it into the perpetrators, mysterious mages in black uniforms over and over again in a complete frenzy.    
  
She recalls someone’s voice pulling her back to reality, a warm hand pulling her back before she completely blacks out.    
  
Miraculously, her father survived, but barely by the skin of his teeth, and with Marianne, Mercedes, Linhardt and even Lysithea almost passing out from the labouros efforts needed to keep him and all the injured alive (something that Linhardt doesn’t complain about, strangely enough. Perhaps because he knows it will be the last battle he will have to see for some time). When Annette comes to in the infirmary tent set up on their way back to the monastery, she bites back a cry of pain when she tries to push herself out of bed, recalling her father’s grievous injuries.    
  
“Don’t worry Annie, it will be okay. Your father is alive- in a comatose state, yes, but he’s still alive. We’re doing everything we can to make sure he lives,” Mercie reassured her at one point, but the words of assurance didn’t reach Annette. When they arrived back at the monastery, Annette had been healed of her wounds, but was still restricted access to her father, as their professor, Byelth, explained. Annette reasoned that she was well-vested enough in Faith to provide assistance- she was a Gremory after all; Dimitri and Byleth on the other hand, countered that, saying Annette should rest after seeing her emotional outburst on their way back to Garreg Mach. They didn’t know how she would react seeing her father’s recovering body.   
  
And so, Annette locked herself away in her room, rarely leaving, if only for specific needs. Annette knew it was ironic that she did what she did. When Felix hid himself away in his room outside of his training regiment, no one could get through to him, especially not any of his childhood friends. Even still, somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted to pull him back from the pit of despair Felix threw himself in; not because Ingrid had asked her to (because she definitely had), but because if anything, she felt a strange  _ need _ to do it. 

And yet here she was throwing herself into it.   
  
The hours turned into days, Annette throwing herself into the books she quietly snagged from the library, engrossing herself in them as much as she could as the Kingdom army’s celebrations were put on hold in order to recuperate. She was barely seen by anyone in the few times she left her room, locking herself away as often as she could to study for a fight that may very well may never come again. She let out an almost amused puff when she realised her actions almost entirely mimicked those of Bernadetta.   
  
She frowned as she remembered the poor girl on the ballista as the hill lit up in flames, setting her ablaze. Thankfully, quick thinking from an old friend, Raphael had supposedly saved her life as he retreated, carrying her body towards the then Leicester Alliance’s army backlines, though she was unfit to battle for most of the remaining war, hiding away in her room or with Raphael as he helped the poor girl start to walk on her own two feet again.   
  
She missed the days of old.   
  
She missed the academy, where all they had to think about was how on earth they were all going to maintain contact with one another after the year was over.    
  
She missed her father, the distance between them now suddenly feeling exponentially larger than before, even if she was more than capable of seeing him herself just a few rooms down.   
  
And most of all, she missed Felix.   
  
Annette’s hand loosened, her quill pen falling out of her hand as the thought crossed her mind. Her face flushed red, Annette groaned as she buried her flushed face in her arms. It was true that she hadn’t seen Felix since some time before they arrived at Garreg Mach, but she could only chalk up to her avoiding him.   
  
Not that she minded seeing him, she admitted to herself. He was one of the few people that knew about her silly songs and still took her seriously. That and his handsome eyes-   
  
Annette slapped her cheeks, trying to erase the thought from her head.   
  
And as if fate was playing games with her, there was a knock at her door.   
  
“Annette,” a familiar voice called out.   
  
The redhead shot to her feet, recognising it as the Fraldarius heir, Felix. She waddled over to the door and deftly opened it, revealing the master swordsman standing before her with a small dinner and desert platter.   
  
“F-Felix?! W-what are you doing here?” Annette squeaked, surprised at his strangely perfect timing. The Fraldarius heir thrust out the platter towards her. “Here. Eat. It’s leftovers from tonight’s dinner.”   
  
Annette bashfully took it out of his hands and sat down at the table, overlooking the food before her.

"They're starting preparations you for the big celebration you know," Felix says, almost uninterested ."The professor- Byleth," Felix corrects himself. "Byleth and the boar are calling in as many favors as we speak. Seteth was naturally against it, but they somehow convinced him, and I'm glad they did," Felix snorted in slight amusement, recalling the trio's rather lively discussion he overheard about the celebration that was proposed. Annette giggled at the thought of Seteth fighting with Byleth and Dimitri. Even after the war’s end, she had a feeling he’d just remain as serious as ever. "Saints knows everyone here needs a break,” Felix yawned.

Annette hums quietly, staring down at her desk, her heart beating at rate she’s never felt before. Felix sighed and leaned his body against the door way. “You should come out of your room. Mercedes won’t stop fretting over you. The boar’s lap dog had to tend to her because she passed out making you all those meals.”   
  
Annette’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Oh no, Mercie,” Annette lamented, a pang of guilt spreading through her. She figured the person who making all those meals for her for the past few days was her- but she didn’t think she’d put so much strain on herself worrying about her that she’d pass out. She already felt guilty turning her away whenever Mercedes tried to see her (or anyone barring not named Felix for that matter, surprising even her close friend Ashe) but maybe that was a sign that it was time she got her act together. After all, the war was over. She looked over towards Felix who seemed a bit more upset than usual, even more than he looked before they arrived at Enbarr.   
  
“Felix? Is something wrong?”    
  
Felix clicked his tongue, knowing he didn’t come here to get comforted by Annette again. “Your father…” Felix began, looking like he was trying to pick and choose his words carefully. Annette looked away from Felix and down at the ground. “He’s a fool,” he finally finished, Annette’s head snapping up, eyes locking with Felix’s. She stared at him with a stunned expression, surprised at how blunt Felix was.   
  
“What…?” she whispered in disbelief.    
  
“What he did out there was foolish, Annette. You would agree if you saw why he got hurt the way he did. He was no better than my father when it came to obsessing himself with protecting the boar. I thought he’d begun to change,” he said to Annette’s growing confusion. “Just when I thought he was going to be above putting his life on the line for the boar, he jumped in the way of dark magic intended for-”   
  
“Out,” Annette stood up on her two feet, shooting him an icy cold glare. Felix’s stood on his feet, away from the doorframe, her glare making him increasingly uncomfortable. “Annette, I...”   
  
“OUT!” she screamed, pointing to the door. “There’s a time and place for everything Felix. Now’s not the time for that, you should know this! Oh for the love of Sothis… I thought you were here to comfort me, not to insult my father in front of my face!” Annette hissed, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. “You… you don’t get to take your emotional pain out on other people like that, just because you’re jealous you don’t brother and father here anymore! You’re evil, Felix!”    
  
Felix reeled back in shock, his face falling into a frown that she’d never seen before. She’d called him evil plenty of times before, Felix shaking it off like it was nothing, but this time she broke through his emotional barrier and hurt him where it hurts most, and Felix seemed legitimately upset by her comment.   
  
Felix bowed his head and took his leave as she wanted, spotting thunder and wind magic emerging from her fingers. When the door shut after he left with another word, Annette fell onto her bed and wept, already regretting her words, remembering Felix’s hurt face as she fell asleep.   
  
The dinner and desert Felix had meticulously put together for her soon went cold.   
  


* * *

It tasted nice, in spite of it not being warm. It certainly wasn’t as tasty as Mercedes’ normal cooking, a little too heavy on the salt if she were to be honest, but Annette just chalked that up to poor Mercedes being stressed between having to heal all of the soldiers in the army that had been injured, cooking for Annette and all the other duties she attended to.   
  
Assuming it was Mercedes who made it in the first place.   
  
Annette still felt terrible, putting so much on Mercedes’ plate. Deciding it was best to eventually relieve some of the stress on Mercedes’ mind, Annette changed out of her clothes to spare and sat at her desk. Looking out her window, she noted how hazy it seemed to be outside.   
  
“Oh Annette, what did you do?” she groaned, throwing her face in her hands, her thumbs rubbing her temples and fingers rubbing her forehead. She really screwed up, she realised. Even if Felix called her father a fool, there had to be a reason why, she reflected on the night before.    
  
She definitely jumped to some sort of conclusion.   
  
“I really am the worst,” Annette groaned, spying a unopened book across the room. “A little more study to get my mind off things couldn’t hurt I guess,” Annette reasoned with herself as she began to scan through a book she hadn’t touched since she snagged it from the library without anyone noticing. One page after another, she advanced through the book, running calculations for solutions to theories and situations presented in the book in her head. Occasionally, Annette would shut the book away, trying to stop her mind from lingering back to the battle at Enbarr, scenarios in the book lumping in with the horrific memories of the battle, imagining her comrades, her friends… her father being reduced to a number, victims in a bloody battle.   
  
She had to remind herself they were all still here. That her father was still in recovery.   
  
Before she knew it, there was a knock at her door, Annette startled not only by the sound, but the sun’s intense shine glaring down into her room. Annette stumbled a little trying to get on her feet, closing her curtains, saving her eyes from being blinded by the sun. Rushing to the door, only to be met with the same familiar face from the day before.   
  
She froze in place, watching Felix hand over another tray full of a warm breakfast into her hands. The two awkwardly stared each other down, Felix being the first to give in.   
  
“I gotta go,” he grumbled, turning his back to Annette.   
  


"F-Felix?!" Annette squeaked, gaining the young man's attention with a spin around on his heels to have her.

“Yes, Annette?”

Oh no. She could feel the awkwardness settle in already.

"Felix, I- I want to speak to you about yesterday," Annette trailed off, silenced as he raised a hand silently. 

"Stop thinking so hard about so much. If you’re feeling sorry, then don’t. I already forgive you," Felix said, his deadpan expression contradicting his words, in Annette’s eyes.

Annette gawked at the young man before snapping out of her confused daze and shook her head. “N-no! Um, I mean, I'm happy you forgive me but… just please let me have this," Annette whispered.

Felix didn't respond out loud, but with a nod and an expression on his face that sent her mixed signals. Sad? Irritation? Disappointment? Annette couldn't tell for the life of her.

"I…" Annette struggled to conjure up up lines, her words constant dying in her throat anyway. "I'm sorry for the way that I reacted yesterday, I was angry and upset and caught up in the moment. Of course that doesn't excuse what I said, and I'm so sorry I did, Felix. I had absolteuly no right to say what I did about your family and yet I still did," Annette apologised profusely, almost crying recalling the hurt on his face and in his eyes as she forced him out her room.

"I… I thought that I understood how you felt when you know… when your father passed," Annette continued, her voice slowly draining of emotion."I thought that the loss of my father when he ran away was enough for me to understand how that pain felt," Annette sniffled. She couldn't bear to see the look on Felix's face now, so she kept her head low, eyes glued to the ground. 

"But seeing my father so close to death's door made me realise how I never really understood your feelings at all, and I still had the audacity l to try to comfort you back then," Annette rambled on, not noticing the sounds of boots hitting the wooden floor. "You probably only let me sing to you because you wanted me off your back, huh?"

Before Annette could realise what happened, she suddenly stumbled forward, arms wrapped around her body, which pressed against Felix's own. "Hey," Felix whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. "Stop thinking so hard about this. But since you're so desperate to know why," Felix trailed off, sinking into the hug he initiated. "I let you comfort me because… It was you," Felix barely let out as a whisper. Annette felt her face warm up, least of all from the tightened grip of the hug.

"Hearing your voice- no, just the thought of you eased the pain, much more than you could give yourself credit for. Knowing I could wake up and know that you were still here, singing some 'silly' food song made life worth living just a little bit longer."

Felix's words of comfort caused both of their faces to burn bright red. Annette's head spun, barely able to contemplate that her mere existence was Felix's own lifeline, his reason for living; even more so than his own childhood friends that tried and failed to get through to him when he isolated himself. Felix shifted slightly, the weight of a small box in his pocket feeling heavier by the second, just like before.

He knew it was now or never. He took two nervous steps back, letting go of the hug. Annette looked almost disappointed that he broke off the hug. Felix reached into his pocket and stopped with his fist around the small box, questioning whether to turn back. He pushed the thought aside and walked up close to her.   
  
“Annette,” Felix cleared his throat, unable to look into his eyes. “I’m only going to say this once okay? So listen carefully.”   
  
Annette gripped the bottom of her shirt, her heart beating so fast she thought it would come out of her chest at any moment.   
  
“Annette. Nothing you could do to bring me to hate you,” Felix spoke, feeling his mouth starting to dry instantly. “And I mean that. What you said last night… it hurt, yes. But if anyone else were to say that, I’d be more than tempted to pull out my sword and point it to their throat. But with you, I didn’t feel that at all. I realise what I said last night was wrong of me, but what you said… you were right. But I still stand by what I said.”   
  
Annette wanted to speak but simply glared at him instead.   
  
“I could tell, you know. Your father over the course of the war became less interested in Dimitri and more interested with you. And you were right. I was jealous. My father never relented in his disgustingly noble and ‘knightly’ duty of protecting Dimitri and serving a dead King. I just wanted that too,” Felix listlessly admitted bowing his head down towards the floor. “That being said, your father was too desperate to protect me for your sake. That’s why he’s barely alive.”   
  
“Protect you… for my sake?” Annette asked, perplexed as to what Felix was getting at.   
  
Felix nodded. “Yes. Before the battle of Enbarr… I asked approval from him,” Felix flushed red, Annette’s eyes widening, her hands beginning to shake. “I suppose, he just wanted to make sure that something came of that… the fool.”   
  
“Approval..? But why?” Annette asked, despite connecting the dots in her head.   
  
“Because I denied something for too long. Ever since the greenhouse where you sung all your songs to me, they’ve never truly left me- they made a permanent carving on my heart that I can’t ever hope to get rid of, and I’ve only wanted more. To hear your voice everyday waking up next to me, to sing me to sleep until we’re old and die together is what all I’ve ever wanted ever since I heard you sing for the first time all those years ago.”   
  
Annette, placed a hand over her mouth in shock, tears threatening to leak from her eyes. “Felix…”   
  
“Annette. You already make me the happiest man on Fodlan, so I want to do the same for you; to make you the happiest woman on Fodlan” Felix breathed in and took out a small box from his pocket and knelt on one knee. “Annette Fantine Dominic. Even in spite of what happened yesterday, I love you. Will you marry me?”   
  
Annette thought she was going to pass out. She thought what was before her wasn’t reality. Annette brought her hands up to the box, pulled in by the ring’s shine. Felix, both nervous at her lack of an answer, and optimistic that she wanted the ring, stood on his feet, took the ring from the box and gently slipped it onto her left hand’s ring finger.   
  
Felix gulped, watching her in silent awe at the ring that perfectly slid onto her finger, the silver and emerald ring shining brightly like Annette whenever she sang with full vigor.   
  
“Annette…?”   
  
“Yes!” Annette exclaimed with happy tears. “I-I’ll marry you Felix. I… I love you so much!” she cried, throwing herself onto Felix and wrapping him in a warm hug that Felix happily reciprocated. Annette loosened her iron grip to stare up at Felix. She and Felix opened their mouths to speak, but were at a loss for words. With faces impossibly red, their minds blanked out as they couldn’t tear from each other’s eyes. Annette made a split second decision and began to take initiative. 

She stood on her toes.

He leaned down.

And not a second later, they met each other in an awkward mess of a kiss. Their teeth clanked with the others, flinching as the pain registering for the both of them. And yet, they immediately wanted more. As if a primal instinct pushed them to keep going, powered by years of tension and yearning for one another that was seeded by a chance encounter, they met each other in a slower, more intense kiss that made their heads spin as they slowly sunk into each other with deep moans.

His lips tasted of Almyran Pine, Annette noticed, while Felix detected the distinct taste of Rose Petal on hers- two totally opposite flavors that somehow managed to work together in tandem like they were made for each other.

The two parted, panting for air. Not allowing the moment to end, Felix spun her around and pinned her against the wall, Annette feeling Felix's hand move lower down the back of her dress.

They both knew where this was going.

Annette, not allowing him to overpower her, fought back with kisses on his lips, cheek and neck before finally leaning up to his ear with an uncharacteristic growl.

"Lock the door," was all she said for Felix to get the message. Who was he to ignore the wishes of the goddess named Annette Fantine Dominic?

He leaned out an arm, closing and locking the door as fast as possible, dragging her to her bed and pinning her down. Mimicking her, he leant down and trailed kisses before reaching her ear.

"Please let me love you," Felix mumbled in a low voice sent her into overdrive.

Who was she to deny the will of a god named Felix Hugo Fraldarius whose love for her burned brighter than any light?

She answered him with another kiss that lead them to consummate their relationship, their grief forgotten and washed away as they lost themselves in each other.   
  
...Or at least that’s what they hoped for.   
  
With a sudden knock at Annette’s door, the duo pulled away from each other, their faces still maintaining their deep blushes. Mercedes’ voice suddenly emanating from behind the door.   
  
“Annie! Annie are you in there?! Oh goodness, please tell me you’re in there…”   
  
Annette scrambled off the bed and opened the door to meet Mercedes giddy face.    
  
“M-Mercie? Is something wrong?” she exclaimed, letting out a yelp as Mercedes grabbed Annette’s hands and held them in hers.    
  
“It’s your father, he’s awoken! It took so much work, but we finally did it.”   
  
“H-He is?!” Annette and Felix exclaimed simultaneously, revealing himself to Mercedes who gasped in surprise.   
  
Mercedes blinked in surprise from Felix’s presence, her finger rubbing over the ring she hadn’t noticed before. Mercedes smiled at them knowingly and let go of her best friends hands. “He’s been awake for some time, but now he’s in a stable enough condition that he can talk. I advise you see him now and tell him about the good news”   
  
Without another word, Annette snagged Felix’s hand and dragged him down the hallway. “W-wait, Annette, what about your…?!”   
  
“As long you didn’t put too much salt in it, I’m more than willing to eat some with you,” Annette grinned, spotting Felix’s embarrassed face as they raced down the hallway, their hands firmly grasped together, both desperate to never let each other go.

_ (They would later look back on the day with a certain fondness despite their awkward firsts, even amongst their many happy days and kids later as they give new life to Fodlan through song. Though many lost their original meaning over time, one song's meaning always persisted- the meeting between wayward swordsman and an energetic mage that became something so, so much more.) _

**Author's Note:**

> Between procrastination and dealing with IRL shenanigans that needed prioritising (no, not just Christmas shopping), I barely was able to push this out for the 23rd... in America.
> 
> Anyway, if you're in Australia, please stay cool. If you're in fire affected areas and have or wll be affected, I hope that any damages that have or will be done are kept to a minimum. I'll be doing my part and donating to the RFS where I can. 
> 
> Moving along from that, I hope that everyone that read the story enjoyed it, especially who I got for Secret Santa. Have a good one!


End file.
